Pretend it's Home
by Herochick007
Summary: After a spell goes wrong, Hermione and Severus are stuck with each other traveling through different worlds as Hermione tries to reverse the spell. A revelation shakes both of them as they finally come to terms with their new reality.


**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter **

**This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Writing Club October **

**Trope of the Month: 13 - Word – Future**

**All Sorts of Space: 7- "Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together? Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidences." ― Emery Allen**

**Showtime: 20 - All is Dark/Life After Life (reprise) - (characteristic) Muggle**

**Scamander's Case: 18- (emotion) desperation**

**Amber's Attic Scream: 30 - (dialogue) "I'll be right back."**

**Marvel Appreciation: 20 - Thanos - Plot Point: A misguided attempt to do good. **[Bonus]****

****Sophie's Shelf: 18. Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout: (emotion) Angry****

****Word Count: 2738****

Hermione opened her eyes and looked around. Where had she landed this time? She'd been trying to reverse the spell she'd created. So far, it hadn't worked. By the looks of things, it hadn't worked this time either. The buildings around her were standing with no sign of destruction. She took an experimental sniff of the air and smiled. She didn't smell any fire, any smoke, a hint of pollution but nothing too bad. Slowly she climbed to her feet wobbling in the pair of black heels she was wearing.

She blinked wondering exactly why she was wearing heels she couldn't walk in and an extremely short black dress. She slid her feet out of the shoes. She was wearing a pair of nylons so her feet weren't completely bare. She took a better look around. She was standing in an alley; there was a large dumpster to her left and a metal rubbish bin to her right.

The ground was made of weathered bricks. She shivered slightly and realized the dress didn't have sleeves and there were marks on her arms. A few looked like bite marks, but the others were most definitely in the shape of a hand print. A soft 'thud' caught her attention and she frowned turning that direction.

"Took you long enough to get here, Miss Granger." She sighed. Of course, he was here too. How could she have forgotten that he was still following her?

"I was here for a bit, Severus," she snapped turning around to face him. His landing had apparently been better than hers. His robes were impeccable, without even a smudge of dirt or dust. His hair hung around his pale face in greasy strands; the price of brewing day and night. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to find out where exactly I am and get out of here."

"This could be home, Miss Granger. Would you really wish to leave if it were?"

"There is no home, you dolt, only endless realities that are slightly different than the last one. Where ever we called 'home' is gone, might as well find a place that isn't too objectionable and stay there. This isn't it, and please, stop following me around. It's not my fault you got sucked into the fucking vortex, or that it opened in your office," she stated starting towards the end of the alley.

"I am not following you, every time you open another portal to try and get us home, I am pulled along with you. You know that already!" he stated glaring at the younger witch. She ignored him and continued walking away from him.

He stared at her as she walked away. He couldn't help but notice just how tightly her dress fit over her behind. He waited until she disappeared around the corner before following her. Despite what she said, he knew she was still his best bet to get back to their world, maybe his only hope.

The street was quiet and he could see Hermione a few feet ahead of him. He glanced around. There were cars parked on the street. There was a slight bit of traffic, but nothing that really called for his attention. He could see some billboards in the distance, probably the city square. Despite the quiet, this was a city, he could tell that much.

"You're still following me, aren't you?" she called not even looking behind her.

"You're the one that brought me here, Miss Granger. It was your spell that sent us Merlin only knows where, and you're obviously the one that's going to get us back." She turned to face him. Her eyes were smudged with makeup and her lips looked raw.

"Something's wrong."

"I'm fine. Look, if you want to keep trailing me like a lost little puppy, you might as well call me by my actual name, Severus. See, I have no problem using yours despite the fact you're supposed to be my teacher, not my fucking stalker."

"I am not stalking you, Hermione, merely following you through this messed up series of worlds trying to find our home. You invented the spell, only you know exactly what you did and what might have gone wrong. We have no way of even knowing if magic exists in this world, it didn't in the last one..." She sighed but nodded.

"You're right, sir. I'm sorry, I'm just... this is all just too much. The fact I did manage to make the spell work, the fact something went wrong, and that I dragged you into the whole mess. All I was trying to do find a way for us to win. All the worlds we've been through, nothing though."

"There might not be an answer, Hermione. There might not be a way to win the war. They're still fighting without us, you know."

"I know, and I can't stop thinking about that fact. That Harry and Ron..." He saw the tears start to swell in her eyes.

"Hermione, they'll be alright. You'll figure out a way to win, a way to get us home. You're the brightest witch I know." She offered him a slight smile.

"Thank you for your confidence. Look, there's a sign post over there, maybe it'll tell us something useful?" She stalked off leaving Severus to trail after her. "According to this, this is London. Muggle London I'm guessing since I don't sense any magic here, which means... I don't know what it means."

"It means, you need to get some new clothing. That dress, despite how beautiful it looks on you, is nearly in tatters and you'll destroy your feet if you keep walking around barefoot."

"What does it matter to you if I destroy my feet?" she asked staring at the sign. She blinked and realized she didn't have her bag or anything else.

"Because," Severus answered. "I do not wish to invite more chaos into our already messed up lives. You don't have your bag. You had it last time I saw you."

"I noticed. You wouldn't happen to have any Muggle money would you?"

"I do. At least, I have some from two worlds ago," he answered pulling a black leather wallet from somewhere in the folds of his robe.

"Put that away! You should buy something too, you know. I don't see anyone else walking around wearing robes, do you?"

"No," Severus answered. "Here," he stated sliding off his cloak and wrapping it around Hermione. It pooled around the ground at her feet. "At least you are now appropriately covered now. That dress..."

"I don't know why I'm wearing it, alright? I don't know what happened to my bag, or my sensible trainers." She touched her side and smiled. "At least I appear to still have my wand though."

"Good, what happened to your arm?" Hermione nodded slowly.

"I think, something went wrong on the last world, Severus. Where were you? Did you see anything?"

"No. I did not. Here, let's go this way. Maybe this world has a Diagon Alley?" he suggested. She nodded allowing him to put an arm around her and lead her. They had walked past a few shops when Hermione started limping slightly.

"There's a cafe right here, sit. I'll get you something to eat. Maybe see if I can't get some information about this world."

"Really? You're just going to ask?"

"I was a spy, Miss Granger, I believe I can get information without giving away that we're not from here."

"Fine. Only because I'm hungry and my foot hurts."

"I'll be right back. Stay out trouble for once?" She snorted sitting at one of the tables outside the cafe. While she waited for Severus to return, she looked around. There weren't many people walking around. She wondered why not. The weather was decent, sunny and cool. She wondered if maybe it was a bank holiday and everyone was away. Maybe people just didn't go out much in this world?

"I got you a coffee and a scone," Severus announced placing the items in front of Hermione. "And I got this," he added holding up a newspaper. She rolled her eyes.

"Being a spy means buying a newspaper?" she asked talking a bite of her scone.

"It means, obtaining information in any and every way possible."

"And what does the paper have to say? Any chance it tells us how to get home?"

"No, but it does give us something useful. Here, look at this picture of the Prime Minister." Hermione took the paper and looked at the picture Severus mentioned.

"He's the same as the Muggle minister in our world."

"To his left." Hermione looked back at the picture, her eyes widening.

"Is that...?"

"Kingsley Shacklebolt, yes. Yes it is."

"He could be a Muggle in this world," she argued. Severus glared at her. "Fine, fine. It looks like the wizarding world exists here. If we can find our way to it, maybe I could figure out what went wrong with the spell and get us home in time to lose the war."

"Hermione. Look, look at the date on the paper. It's a year later than when we left. Either we're in the future or we've been world jumping for over a year. The war might have ended without us, all because of a stupid spell you decided to cast without thinking about the consequences!"

"No. No... what if... no."

"Grab your coffee, let's go see if we can get home." She nodded picking up the cup and following Severus.

"Hermione, I'm sorry about what I said, about the war," he said after a few minutes.

"I know, Severus, I know. We both just want to get home, we both know it's a possibility we can't and even when, or if, we ever do, nothing will be the same. It's possible we have been traveling a year. Each world seems to have its own time, it probably has to do with slight variations of the speed that the Earth orbits the sun."

"You're rambling again, Miss Granger."

"Sorry, I'm just... I don't know what I am."

"Good, that makes two of us. We're here. There's the Cauldron." They stepped inside. Several heads turned as they entered. Hermione didn't recognize anyone. Severus did, but pretended he didn't.

"Mr. Snape! I'm so glad to hear the rumors of your demise were incorrect!" Severus slid Hermione behind him protecting her from sight.

"Travers," Severus commented as the man approached them.

"How did you manage it?"

"Manage what? Being alive or being more intelligent than a box of rocks?" Severus asked.

"Being alive and not incarcerated in Azkaban with the rest of them."

"I could ask you the same question, Travers." The man grumbled but nodded.

"You could, but I'm sure the rest of His followers will be thrilled you survived and ratted them out to save your own pale skin."

"Are you planning on telling them, Travers, or are you just trying to make yourself feel better about the names you dropped like hot potatoes the moment the Aurors showed up?" Travers blinked and slunk off, shoving Severus as he did. Hermione waited until she and Severus were safely in Diagon Alley before sure burst out laughing.

"What pretell is so funny, Miss Granger?"

"You, sir. How you handled that Death Eater?"

"Yes, Travers is a Death Eater on our world and apparently this one. It looks like the war is indeed over here here if the Death Eaters are in Azkaban."

"Let's hope our world has shared the same fate," Hermione whispered as the pair walked through Diagon Alley. Hermione could hear people talking, hear kids playing.

"Hermione, about the spell you used..."

"What about it?"

"Is it even reversible?"

"There must be a way, I need to get back, to save Ron and Harry."

"They're beyond that now, Hermione. Look around, there are shops lining the streets, people are walking around unafraid. In this world, we must have won." She nodded pulling Severus into a bookshop.

"Here, this one's got to have it. Oh...wow," Hermione whispered sinking to her knees. Severus grabbed the book from her hands and quickly scanned the passage.

"In this world you never existed to help Harry, and I died before the battle of Hogwarts. Neither of us had a hand in the defeat of You Know Who."

"If this world's Harry could win without me, without ever knowing me, could our Harry have won?" she whispered.

"Yes, I believe he could have. He had people helping him, Hermione. People besides you. You cast that spell in an effort to help him, what exactly were you looking for? A weapon?"

"No, I was looking for a future where we won to see how we did it. Apparently we did it without me or you." Hermione nodded slowly.

"We can't go back, can we?"

"It was your spell, Hermione. Only you can figure out how to reverse it." She shook her head. Severus sat down on the floor besides her.

"What do you mean?"

"It wasn't supposed to do this, take us anywhere. It was supposed to be a scrying spell, that's it. Like a crystal ball, only functional. I don't know why it pulled us from our world," she whispered tears streaming down her face. Severus stared at her.

"Do you have it? The incantation?" he asked. All the other worlds they'd passed through, this was the first time they'd ever sat together not sniping each others heads off.

"No, it was in my bag. I remember part of it," she answered. He handed her a sheet of parchment from his pocket.

"There's a quill in the inner pocket of the cloak." She pulled it out and jotted down what she could remember. Once she had finished, he took the page and studied it before staring at her.

"Hermione, you are beyond brilliant and that is why we're here, and shall remain here."

"What?"

"You wanted to find a world where our side won the war. You wanted to ensure Harry's victory over Him. You did exactly that, by using this spell, you pulled out anything that would stop him from winning in our world; you and me."

"How...but...what about the other worlds we've been through?"

"Part of the miscasting I believe. You found answers in some of those worlds, answers to winning that Harry found in his world. Now you've got your answer. They won because we were no longer there. I do not understand how our existence would have prevented victory, but it did."

"We can't go back."

"No, you were right about not being able to reverse it. That is why we've been traipsing through world after world. If you stop trying to reverse, we stop flying through the universe." She nodded biting her lip.

"So, what do we do now, sir?" she asked looking over at him.

"Either we keep jumping world to world, or..."

"We settle down in one of them. You're dead in this one," she stated.

"True. I wonder what kind of legacy I left for myself. I should find out exactly who I was here."

"Accio biography of Severus Snape," Hermione giggled pulling out her wand. He rolled his eyes but a slim black book flew over to them.

"By Rita Skeeter, we both know how truthful this will be," he muttered flipping through it. "Lovely, I was a Death Eater who was a spy for Albus Dumbledore and was awarded Order of Merlin first class after my death."

"So same as our world?"

"It appears so. Good, that wouldn't make assimilation too difficult. You being Muggle-born would explain why no one has heard of you."

"Are you seriously asking me to settle down in this world, with you? After everything we've been through, after every name you've called me for dragging you along on this misadventure-" Hermione started to rant, but her her words were cut short by Severus pressing his lips against hers. She blinked in shock as she wrapped her arms around him and deepened the kiss. A moment later they broke apart and stared at each other.

"Well, then, I accept," Hermione answered. "Shall we go see our new world?"

"Yes, after we buy you a pair of shoes and a decent dress," he answered standing and pulling her up with him.

"Perfect. Let's go then."


End file.
